


Why Steve Rogers is Never Letting Tony Stark Out of His Sight Again (oh and also how they got together)

by toastersocket



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hospitals, Kind of based on a trope??, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Protective Steve Rogers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i guess??, they're dumbasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 20:03:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18105485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toastersocket/pseuds/toastersocket
Summary: Steve finds out that Tony's "business trip to Japan" is actually a cover-up for some stupid mission for SHEILD, and that the man on whom he's been crushing for the last however long has gone dark.Steve is going to stab a bitch.





	Why Steve Rogers is Never Letting Tony Stark Out of His Sight Again (oh and also how they got together)

Steve would later regret punching the wall once Fury told him the news.

 

Then of course, at the time all he really felt was an all-encompassing outrage that putting your fist through some drywall couldn’t hope to extinguish so while he didn’t necessarily regret is per se he’d still seen it as a waste of effort.

 

“Stark has gone dark.”

 

Denial had pushed itself to the forefront of his mind; there was no way that Tony would do that to them, to _him_.

 

Because apparently Tony’s “business trip to Japan” was a cover-up for some stupid shit that SHEILD hadn’t even thought to tell Steve and the other Avengers about.

 

The team had changed as quickly as possible, and it was only once the five of them had piled into a quinjet and were speeding over the Pacific Ocean, reality had sunk in, denial fading into pure unadulterated wrath coursing through his veins with a frenzy that would put a pissed-off Hulk to shame.

 

So in other words, Steve was going to stab a bitch.

 

\--

 

The quinjet landed on an open field after 57 restless minutes of pacing, Steve jumping out before the ramp had fully dropped down.

 

If Fury’s information was to be trusted (and God knew that not much about that man was trustworthy these days) there was a warehouse 5 miles north of where Clint had landed, and in the warehouse a hopefully (but very likely not) unharmed Tony was being held hostage.

 

Steve broke out into a run without checking if the others were following behind: the longer he waited, the longer his Tony (just Tony he mentally admonished) was being kept there. Just the thought made Steve sick.

 

Minutes flew by in a blur of yellow-green stalks of wheat until finally, finally an old building that looked like it was rotting from the inside out came into view.

 

Steve reached for his shield without slowing, his hand closing down on thin air. Steve’s step faltered.

 

Well shit.

 

Steve stood 50 feet from the two lookouts positioned at either side of the building dumbly for a good 15 seconds before shrugging it off. He must have left the shield at SHIELD, what with his rush to board the plane as quickly as possible.

 

Whatever, it was more satisfying to feel someone’s skull cave in beneath your fist than it was to watch them fall down as soon as they were hit by a big metal Frisbee anyway.

 

With that Steve was back to sprinting at full speed towards the building, making quick work of the two at the door before kicking the rusted steel down, the red-brown chains doing little to stop the strength of a furious supersoldier.

 

CRASH

 

The warehouse door fell down, sawdust and loose dirt flying up in puffs of smoke. Steve narrowed his eyes as they adjusted to the dim building, the only light coming from the thin streams of sunlight filtering through the cracks between the old planks that formed the roof and through what used to be the doorway.

 

The building itself was empty, save for a flight of stairs in the centre that lead into the ground, and Steve frowned. Shouldn’t there be more guards? They were keeping Tony Stark as a hostage after all.

 

No matter, he was sure that those questions would answer themselves sooner or later.

 

Steve headed down the stairs, dodging the bullets that had started pelting down on him the moment he’d stepped foot onto the first stair before vaulting over the railing and onto the concrete below.

 

\--

 

However many sub-par gunmen later, Steve locked eyes with Tony, and all his fury melted into concern. The man was strapped to a chair at the end of the corridor, head lolled back to expose his neck, and clearly under the effects of a shit-ton of drugs.

 

Steve sprinted over to the genius, eyes never leaving the other man’s form even as he took out the last couple of guards with relative ease. Steve knelt in front of Tony has he undid the fraying rope tied around his wrists and feet.

 

“Hnnngh” Tony grunted as the last particularly tricky knot came loose.

 

“Hey Tony, you awake?”

 

“Nnnnnnnwha?””

 

Steve smiled, an inexplicable fondness creeping through his body. “Hi Tony,” he repeated.

 

Tony grunted before closing his eyes and falling back asleep.

 

__

 

Clint was panting, his hands on his knees and his head facing the earth when Steve emerged from the warehouse, Tony safely and comfortably being carried in Steve’s arms, but the moment he spotted the two he let out a wolf-whistle.

 

“Remind me not to get between Cap and his frickin boyfriend over there,” He nodded over to where a blushing Steve was adjusting his grip on Tony’s limp frame (Steve would later insist that he’d held the other in a bridal carry because it was the most comfortable to him, a claim that the others all individually but collectively called bullshit on), “Jesus Christ dude, you’re terrifying”

 

“Let’s keep the inappropriate comments off of the open comms, Hawkeye” Steve scowled, before cutting off whatever a shit-eating-grin-wearing Clint was opening his mouth to say, “And no, Iron Man is not my boyfriend. Focus, team.”

 

\--

 

Steve spent the ride back to New York fretting over Tony’s unconscious figure with the focus and passion of a doctor doing surgery on a grape, adjusting the genius’ head-rest (Clint’s civvies (the archer had changed on the quinjet) piled on top of a few of Natasha’s guns)) and adding more tinfoil blankets onto the already teetering mound every 5 seconds. And by the time they got back the others were exasperated as hell, if Thor’s increasingly loud proclamations about Midguardian traditions, Bruce’s almost obsessive glasses-cleaning, and Clint’s never-ending stream of complaints were to be of any indication.

 

The team rushed Tony into SHEILD the moment the quinjet touched the ground. Security didn’t even try to inspect them (after the first time they’d stopped the Avengers when they were in a hurry they’d been on the receiving end of Natasha’s death glare and consequentially hadn’t dared to even speak to them ever since) as they burst through the doors, Tony’s unconscious body looking like a ragdoll in Steve’s arms.

 

Medical, alerted by someone (probably security, the Avengers weren’t really known for keeping their cool in times of extreme worry), were ready for them as Thor slammed the door to the medical wing open and quickly took Tony’s blood before ushering all six of them into a room down the hall.

 

Other than a nasty cut on his waist, Tony had gotten off relatively lightly, with just some minor bruising along his arms, knees, back and head. The Avengers were relieved. That was, except for Steve.

 

“-can’t believe I didn’t notice the fucking inch deep slice in him! I mean, what kind of leader am I if-“

 

“Cap! Calm down my guy, none of us noticed. Stop beating yourself up about it, huh?”

 

“You’re not the one that’s supposed to-“

 

Thankfully the Doctor came in before Clint could throttle some sense into Steve’s thick skull.

 

“Mr. Stark has heavy amounts of antipsychotics in his bloodstream, meaning that he is under sedation and will not be in the right state of mind when he wakes up.”

 

“The beans are cold, good Healer!” Thor thumped the greying man’s back heartily.

 

“For the last time Thor it’s ‘cool beans’-“

 

Natasha swiftly cut off the archer before he could disparage the other any more, “How long is he going to be out?”

 

The doctor tore his eyes away from Thor and Clint standing back to back, both wearing pouts and puppy eyes to rival those of the most manipulative 4 year olds, blinking twice before his brain seemed to compute the question, “Oh! Uhh about 3 days, Ma’am; ummm although,,,,” He trailed off, getting his train of thought back on track, “we do expect that he’ll wake up periodically, just not for long.”

 

Natasha nodded and the Doctor rushed out of the room, presumably with a much different view of what the Avengers were like than what he’d had before (new staff were always so lost. Clint found it to be the funniest thing in the world).

 

The team sat there for three hours before another call to assemble was issued, and while Steve had tried to go out with the rest of the Avengers, they had insisted he stay to watch their fallen teammate; feeling useless, but also kind of glad that he was the one at Tony’s bedside.

 

Love was a strange thing, he decided.

 

\--

 

After the fight (“Who the _hell_ thinks up of these things? I mean seriously??? Giant bunny-birds?????”) the team collectively decided to go back to the tower, as it was easier to assemble from (and definitely not for reasons of plot convenience).

 

With nothing to do but stare at the shallow rise and fall of Tony’s chest, and watch as the blue light of the arc reactor shone brightly through the thin hospital gown he’d been shoved into sometime between having his blood tested and entering the room, Steve pretended that he was bored, and when that failed all too easily that the fascination that he felt was from a purely artistic standpoint, and nothing else.

 

Steve sighed.

 

It was going to be a long three days.

 

\--

 

Ouch.

 

Tony hurt.

 

A lot.

 

That sucked.

 

Tony turned onto his side.

 

Nope. No. Bad Tony. That was a bad idea. Tony turned back around.

 

Or tried to, because energy sucked.

 

Something firm moved beside his chest, so Tony opened his eyes to look at it.

 

Tony focused on the puff of yellow in front of his face.

 

A warm happy feeling filled him up: that was a good puff.

 

A very good puff.

 

Tony nodded to himself.

 

The very good puff then turned into an even better face.

 

Wow.

 

That was a very very good face.

 

Tony smiled up at the face before falling back asleep.

 

\--

 

Two days after finding Tony, Steve was passed out at the other man’s bedside when he felt the mattress shift. A moment later, Steve was lifting his head, vertebrae cracking back into place, and smiled as he was rewarded with the sight of Tony awake and watching him with apt fascination that shifted into a blindingly happy smile that lit up the genius’ entire face with the fondest most loving look Steve could imagine.

 

And apparently Dr. Erskine hadn’t completely fixed his body because his heart definitely wasn’t supposed to stutter like that.

 

Tony then blinked slowly before completely shutting his eyes exhaustion obviously dragging him back into the warm embrace of sleep. “mm luhyoo..” Tony mumbled, words so soft that they probably weren’t audible to non-serum-enhanced ears.

 

Steve thought that now would be a good time to freak the fuck out.

 

\--

 

A heavy sigh crackled through the line. “This had better be good.”

 

“Hi Nat. Sorry, but also listen.”

 

“Steve it’s 3 in the morning this had better be good”

 

From the background Clint’s voice filtered through, “None of us were asleep anyways, Tasha. Stop making Cap feel bad.”

 

“Yeah Tasha. If Steve called _me_ to dish out some tea I’d be all ears,” Bruce’s soft tones joked.

 

“Ok well now you’re pretending to have the moral high ground to hide how much of a fuckin slut you are for drama.”

 

“FRIENDS!” Steve cringed as Thor’s bellow carried through the phone before a full scale argument could break out. “Let us hear Brother Steven speak.”

 

Steve sighed, “So I’m here.” He paused, collecting his thoughts, “And you’re there”

 

Various grunts of agreement followed by Clint’s inevitable “Does this have like a point or… are we just repeating stuff we already know? Cause like if so I’m leaving”

 

Steve smoothly ignored the archer, “And Tony’s here too, and-“

 

“Did you try to like Sleeping Beauty him? True love’s kiss and all that?” Clint squawked as Natasha (presumably) elbowed him in the gut.

 

“Did he wake up?” Natasha’s voice was as direct as ever.

 

“Yeah but-”

 

The Avengers tripped over each other asking after their teammate.

 

“He said that he loved me.”

 

The other end of the line quieted almost immediately.

 

“I’m sorry did I hear you right? Like do I need to get my hearing aids checked or some shit?” Clint was the one that broke the shocked silence.

 

That seemed to trigger the rest of the team out of their stupor, as they all began talking at once, leaving Steve blinking, stomach slowly bottoming out as he processed what had been said.

 

“Sorry everyone, I- I need to go.” Steve’s voice was impossibly small.

 

Steve put the phone down on the small table next to Tony’s bed before putting his head in his hands.

 

The team had known about his massive, embarrassing crush on their resident genius, something that had been useful in the middle of the night when he needed someone to ramble to, and while he’d _known_ that his feelings were unrequited a small part of Steve had still hoped. Now though, Clint’s disbelief had cemented the reality of Steve’s life; doomed to be in one-sided love with your best friend for the rest of time, with no hope of that ever changing.

 

Kind of depressing, but hey, Steve guessed that he’d gotten lucky so far in life, what with the serum, the ice, the team and all that, so he really couldn’t complain.

 

\--

 

Tony woke up a few times after that, still smiling that fucking smile and generally just being an adorable human being. (As the drugs wore off he did get more and more pissy, but Steve still thought he was adorable (and yes, he did know that his crush was getting to concerning levels of pathetic, but when Tony was gazing up at his with half-lidded eyes, and looking like Steve was his whole world, Steve really couldn’t bring himself to care)).

 

The fifth time he woke up, Tony found Steve staring down at him fondly and said the first thing that came to mind.

 

“God, I love you”

 

It took a few seconds to realize that he’d fucked up.

 

“I mean, not like in a y’know romantic way or anything, just fuckin’ uhh y’know destroying… gender roles and all that.” Tony exhaled a frantic breath, “Cause you know me, making the world a better place even from the hospital bed. But yeah. Platonic love, man. Dude. Bro. Love ya. Mua mua.. but not uhh y’know that whole kiss… ing thing, ‘cause like that would be romantic and uh that’s not us. Or is it? Hahahahahahahha hilarious I know, I’m just fuckin’ witty like that y’know? A jokester. A fucking comedian. Wow. Look at me, I’m the next fuckin’ John Mulaney. That’s me. Just, tellin’ jokes, left right and centre. Doin’ good in the neighborhood… ” He gave Steve a pair of awkward finger guns as his rambling trailed off.

 

Sometimes Tony hated himself with the passion of a kajillion burning suns.

 

Now was one of those moments.

 

\--

 

Tony woke up halfway into the second night to find Steve staring down at him like a creep.

 

But instead of making some snide comment about it like Steve expected him to, Tony opened his mouth and said the three words that had been haunting his every waking moment.

 

“God, I love you”

 

The hope that soared through Steve’s body was quickly squashed by Tony’s nervous rambling.

 

The fact that Tony was so uncomfortable at just the thought of being in a relationship with Steve was expected, but nonetheless, Steve couldn’t help but feel as though his already shattered heart was being ground into the dirt by the heel of Tony’s gleaming dress shoe.

 

“It’s fine Tony” Steve sighed, “Really.”

 

Tony lowered his hands from where they were awkwardly finger-gunning.

 

“I just-“ Shaking his head, Steve turned to leave, “I’ll get you some food, yeah? Be back soon.”

 

And with that he left, trying to make it look like he _wasn’t_ fleeing to the bathroom to wallow in self-pity.

 

\--

 

Tony had fucked up

 

Big time.

 

After Steve left, he lay there for a good ten minutes just feeling sorry for himself, before he passed out, resolving to not let his broken heart get in the way of his friendship with Steve (after all, if Starks were good at one thing, it was repressing feelings) before falling into a dreamless sleep.

 

\--

 

When Steve came back to the room half an hour later, bearing hospital mush for two, he found Tony fast asleep, his first instinct was to seize this opportunity in order the creepily stare at the other man.

 

Of course, once Steve realized this, he stopped immediately, and called the only person he could think of.

 

“Good afternoon, this is Marissa, what can I do for you?”

 

“Hello ma’am, may I please speak with Miss Potts?”

 

“Can I ask who this is?”

 

“Captain Steve Rogers.”

 

“Oh, Captain! My apologies, I’ll get Miss Potts for you as soon as I can.”

 

The line clicked, and Pepper Potts’ voice flowed out of the cellphone’s speaker, “Hello, Steve. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“Miss Potts, you know Tony very well, yes?”  


A pause “…yes?”

 

“And you two dated at one point”

 

You could practically hear Pepper’s confusion through the phone, “That’s correct, yes. Can I ask what the point of this is?”

 

“Just a moment please, ma’am. Would you say Tony is a very verbally affectionate man?”

 

The line was silent for so long that Steve though Pepper might have hung up on him, “I mean I guess?”

 

“Alright, Miss Potts, thank you for your time, I’ll leave you alone no-“

 

“Woah woah woah. Steve, what’s the meaning of this?”

 

“I’d rather not say, ma’am.”

 

“Steve, I’m one of Tony’s oldest friends, and hopefully, one of yours as well. You obviously called me for something, and honestly, I’m very concerned right now. Please just tell me what’s going on and I won’t have to send JARVIS into the SHEILD security footage to find out what’s got you in a tizzy”

 

“Miss Potts-“

 

“No, Steve, it’s fine. Really. I’ll just-”

 

“Tony told me he loved me. Twice. I know he didn’t mean it, so I’m not quite sure why I called you, but I just thought you should know.”

 

Steve hung up before Pepper could respond.

 

\--

 

43 missed calls from Pepper, and the news that Tony would have to stay in Medical for a day longer for his cut to properly heal later, Tony was awake (the sedative had completely worn off a while ago) and he and Steve were studiously ignoring each other when a falling grate, following by a disappointed looking Hawkeye narrowly avoided clipping Steve in the shoulder.

 

Clint clapped his hands twice, as though he didn’t already have their full attention, “Alright, lookie here you morons. You’re dumb”

 

Steve was surprised when instead of his usual retort of being a certified genius, Tony stayed silent, the room falling into a depressing quiet before Clint rolled his eyes and groaned.

 

“Jesus fuck, this is pathetic. Both of you.” Clint put his hands on his hips, “Alright you two, listen up: you’re both head over heels for each other, something you would know if one of you could take your head out of your ass for like three seconds, because seriously. It’s been bad enough to hear you, yes you Anthony who else talk about how pretty and kind and selfless and perfect and out of your league Steve is only to turn around and hear Steve say the exact same fucking thing. Every. Single. Night. Good god, it was horrible. So look each other in the eye, that’s right, just like that, and now kiss. Smash faces. Go all out. The other person will love it, I promise. C’mon. Go.”

 

Steve furrowed his eyebrows. “Clint that’s not-“

 

“Yes, he does like you back, Steven.”

 

“You do?”

 

Tony looked down, his cheeks colouring, “I do.”

 

Steve couldn’t have stopped the grin from slitting his face if he wanted to, the bubble of euphoria rising up through his chest. “Can I kiss you?”

 

Tony’s eyes widened, and a split second later his lips were on Steve’s, and it was everything Steve had ever wanted and more. It was perfectly imperfect. It was an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It was fireworks on New Years Day, the bright bursts of light illuminating his face for a split-second before disappearing altogether. It was hot chocolate in the dead of winter, watching the soft, perfectly unique flakes of snow drifting lazily past his window as he was warmed from the inside out. It was dancing in the rain, carefree and messy and knowing that when he got back he’d trail mud everywhere, but not giving a damn either way. It was warmth and kindness, strength and love, and all the little things pieced together to make the most beautiful picture of all. It was Tony.

 

It was home.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! hello! i hope you enjoyed that,,, it took way too long. also, yes i have been working on this instead of ch 3 of the youtube au,,, oops. anyways, please leave comments and kudos if you enjoyed this,, and also if you have any requests please hand 'em over, im lacking inspiration.
> 
> anyways, i hope you have a good day/night!


End file.
